Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 faced a lot of criticism for the random acquisition of cosmetics and weapons from loot boxes and its microtransaction policy. An update is coming on November 12 that will allow players to unlock skins deliberately. Does this release of the new CoD have anything to do with it?
What’s going on with Black Ops 4? The CoD: Black Ops 4 released in 2018 is still supported by the developers, so updates for the title are still being released.
These updates often bring a new playlist, balancing, or contracts. However, the new update from November 12 revises a mechanic that has caused trouble for quite some time – the loot boxes.
Unlocking weapons and skins has been purely random so far
Loot boxes from Black Ops 4 have been a point of contention for some time: The unlocking of new and sometimes crazy weapon and outfit skins does not work through targeted efforts but involves a large random component.
Some of the extravagant killing tools are hidden behind a thick paywall or require great luck with the loot boxes.
While you can easily unlock the normal variants of most weapons with increasing tiers (levels), getting your favorite weapon as a specially customizable signature weapon often resembles a lottery win with a super number.
New feature makes loot system more transparent
What happens now with Blackjack’s shop? Blackjack has decided to give players better ways to unlock the desired weapons.
4 new offers will be available:
- A constantly available Pick-a-Weapon bribe
- Available in exchange for 50 loot boxes
- With this “bribe,” you can persuade Blackjack to provide a specific weapon or skin. You also receive 5 duplicate-free crates and 2 reserve items.
- A rotating reserve stack
- Available in exchange for 2 loot boxes
- This regularly rotating offer holds an item that you have not yet received and will be swapped directly upon purchase with another item you do not yet own.
- 2 rotating My Deals offers
- Available for purchase with loot boxes
- These My Deals offers rotate regularly and also bring weapons or cosmetics that you have not yet acquired. When you buy one of the items, the offer changes immediately.
Pick-a-Weapon offer lets you choose loot
How does this change the in-game shop? With the new offers, players can now finally know exactly what reward they can earn with the loot boxes. If the desired item is in rotation, you can even get it quite cheaply.
And the Pick-a-Weapon bribe is a big step towards transparency. If you have a specific weapon variation in mind, you can now work towards it deliberately.
Bribe allows you to choose from rare categories:
- Mastercraft skins
- Signature weapons
- MKII weapons
- Base variants
New loot boxes come rather late: However, that these changes come shortly after the release of the current Call of Duty will probably leave a bitter aftertaste for some players.
I can earn 50 crates in 5 or 6 days, with contracts and skips. It’s not that difficult and definitely a good deal. But obviously a bit too late.
Seabeast76 on reddit (translated)
Because right now, just when Black Ops 4 “is no longer relevant,” Activision is making it a bit more player-friendly.
Modern Warfare without loot boxes makes Black Ops fairer
Why are the developers only addressing this now? The Call of Duty games of recent years have been full of loot boxes, supply drops, and random rewards. Activision has, despite all criticism, continued to stick to the system and until recently made no efforts to shift away from it.
However, future games like the current CoD: Modern Warfare already prove that they will no longer be filled with loot boxes to this extent. Two influences could be crucial to the current developments:
- The release of a new CoD puts pressure on the player numbers of Black Ops.
- Black Ops 4 will still be supported for a while and now faces a strong and more current competitor in Modern Warfare. With a better loot system, they can certainly entice back some players who aren’t too fond of Modern Warfare.
- Activision has announced that the entire Call of Duty franchise will more or less distance itself from loot boxes.
- Although the individual CoDs are developed by different studios, Activision has the final word on many important decisions, and it seems the developers of Black Ops are now allowed to open the loot floodgates a bit.
Are you still playing Black Ops 4? What do you think of the new Blackjack system? A good change? Or simply too late?
